Hanjotei

A theater on the north side of the grounds of Osaka Tenmangu, the shrine known for the Tenjin Matsuri, with a permanent daily program of rakugo storytelling. The area around Osaka Tenmangu once had as many as eight yose, or variety halls, but they disappeared one after another after the war. The Kamigata Rakugo Association and local shopping streets called for a yose to be revived, aiming to pass on and develop the performing arts and to bring the district back to life, and started collecting donations. Funded by the public, it opened in 2006, the first in 60 years. Storytellers from veterans to young performers appear, and non-rakugo acts such as magic, manzai and daikagura are staged as well. Evening programs feature a single storyteller or the disciples of one master. A course for schools, the Kamigata Rakugo Experience Course, is also held.

Translated and shortened from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).